Uruguay: Leftist 'Broad Front' Leads Polls With 38% of Vote

TeleSUR. October 23, 2019

While there are only a few days left before the October 27 elections, most Uruguayans maintain their firm rejection of right-wing politicians and their proposals.

Less than a week before the presidential elections in Uruguay, citizens' support for the Broad Front, Frente Amplio (FA), a coalition of left-wing organizations which is currently in government, is growing and widening its distance from the opposition led by the center-right National Party (PN).

According to the Uruguayan company Cifra's last monthly survey, the intention to vote for the FA increased from 33 percent to 38 percent, which enhances the chances that this political group can reach its fourth consecutive term after 15 years of government.

If this happens in the October 27 elections, the FA candidate Daniel Mantinez, who is Montevideo's former mayor, will be able to achieve victory and move on to the second round.

Instead, the National Party candidate, Senator Luis Lacalle Pou, maintains a citizen support which fluctuates around 25 percent of voting intentions.

As a political organization, the Broad Front emerged from the confluence of Christian democrats, socialists and former Tupamaro guerrilla fighters, among whom was Jose Mujica, a former political prisoner who ruled this South American country from 2010 to 2015.

The FA's first administration began in 2005 when Tabare Vazquez, who is the country's current president, won the 2004 elections and ended thus 174 years of conservative governments.

Since then, the Uruguayan leftist coalition has managed to maintain three consecutive presidential terms, two from Vazquez and one from Mujica.